Sometimes it’s great to see what we have to look forward to. As much as snow and ice are interesting, they are cold. So this is a little taste of summer to whet your appetite. This is a photo from a warm summer day at the Ya Ha Tinda ranch near the forestry trunk road in central Alberta. Flowery meadows are my idea of heaven, and the ranch has those in abundance. I can’t wait to get back.
On Abraham Lake it’s easy to get sucked into the details—there’s so many fascinating ice patterns, but every once in a while I’d look up and see something like this.
Just a quick photo today—I’ll continue the account of my trip tomorrow. Ice and snow on Abraham Lake.
For the record, I’ve never heard of an X composition, and intuitively it doesn’t seen like it would work to me. But for some reason I like this photo.
Pine trees after a forest fire in the Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve. I just love the lines of these hills partly hidden behind the trees. It’s not every day I get to use hatching in my nature photography.
Sunset reflected in the Bow River.
Taken on the Hayburger trail in Elk Island National Park while standing in snow above my waist. It was powdery snow, but still – hard to move. Makes me wonder how the animals survive the winter. It must take an incredible amount of energy to move anywhere at all, and food looks like it would be pretty scarce.
(For full effect, please read in the voice of David Attenborough)
In the plains and woodlands of central Alberta, a most curious animal dwells. This animal swims through frozen water, easily powering its impressive bulk forward. At over 1 metric ton, it is ironically scared of most other animals, preferring either to be alone or to be in groups of its own kind. Behold the bisonshark. While almost impossible to detect when submerged, the bisonshark rises from the snow to move more quickly.
Taken yesterday in Elk Island National Park. The bison were only sometimes completely submerged, usually showing most of their top half. But yes, we do have a LOT of snow.
Snow on the North Saskatchewan River. Taken a few years ago while on a hike with my Dad and brothers near our old house in Saskatchewan.
Frosty snow. Taken near Beaverhill Lake, Alberta.
Dinosaur Provincial Park is a great place to check out, especially in winter. I went there in the middle of December a couple years ago. After a cold night sleeping in my car, a friendly snowplow driver cleared the way for me. I got there before sunrise and the whole area had just been covered in a fresh dusting of snow the night before. I was the only person there, although there were new cat tracks everywhere. It was a great day! Then on the way home my transmission blew. There’s always something…
Normally I’m not a fan of weird crops and panos. Too often the composition becomes more about the crop than the contents interacting with the frame. Sometimes it’s just that too wide of a lens was used and a boring foreground and sky have to be cropped out. But every once in a while an image benefits from a different crop.
Yeah, this is supposed to be pic of the day, but sometimes I just can’t resist the allure of multiple pictures.